I was on F1 Visa earlier and later shifted to H1B via COS on October, 2020. I recently had H1B amended due to location change and my new H1B expires on Sept 2025 as per the i797 Approval Notice.
My F1 visa as per visa stamp was issued on June 2017 and had expiration date of June 2022 .
I am planning to visit India in September/October 2023 and thus I recently booked an appointment which was dropbox for October x, 2023 at New Delhi Visa Office . I got to know from some online article that for Dropbox is available only if you visa has not expired more than 1 year. Thus, in this case, I would exceed my 1 year visa expiry.
But when I used CGI website, It asked me following questions
- Do you have a previous U.S. visa in any visa class issued on or after your 14th birthday?
A) YES, in 2017 for F1 class. - Was your prior visa annotated “Clearance Received” or “Department Authorization”?
A) No. I see nothing printed in this section in my visa. - Was your most recent U.S. visa lost, stolen, canceled, revoked, or marked CWOP?
A) What should I answer to this question. I have no CWOP mark, Not lost, Not stolen.
Is expired comes under cancelled. I chose No - Have you been refused US visa?
A) No - Was your most recent Visa issued after January1, 2008?
A) Answered Yes as it was in 2017 for F1 class
Then, it showed me eligible for waiver.
But, this redbus article US Visa Dropbox Eligibility - 48 months Extended Indefinitley [2022] says 48 months is allowed but only if you are in same category. I am going from F1 stamp (which would be expired 12+ month) to H1B stamping